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How Illinois finally got back to the Sweet 16

OMAHA, Neb. — Brad Underwood took his time leaving the floor on Saturday night. He clapped his hands above his head as he walked toward the Illinois cheering section, then stopped and punched at the air twice in celebration.Underwood would say later that it was for the fans, who hadn’t experienced getting out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2005. His team cruised there with a dominant 89-63 second-round win over Duquesne, getting that damn monkey off the program’s back. But, if he were being honest, this had weighed on him too. He’d been to seven NCAA Tournaments as a head coach and never made it past the Round of 32, including a frustrating second-round loss as a No. 1 seed three years ago to Loyola Chicago.This wasn’t just an Illinois problem; it’s a Big Ten problem.The league hasn’t produced a national champion since Michigan State in 2000. Most teams build to win in their league, and that has been the Big Ten’s issue. You win in March with guards. You win in the Big Ten with bigs.And that 2021 team? Very Big Ten-ish, built around 7-foot behemoth Kofi Cockburn.“When we lost as a (No, 1), we had holes,” Underwood said. “And we were really good. Ayo (Dosunmu) was obviously a pro. Kofi was an All-American. But we had no positional size. We got away with it, because of Kofi. And yet, we were very, very limited in what we could do offensively and defensively.”Underwood made a decision then. He was no longer going to build with the Big Ten in mind; he was building for March.He had one more season with Cockburn, surrounding him with little guards who could shoot. But once the big fella was gone, it was time to lean into where he saw the game was going.“We started recruiting bigger wings,” he said. “We’ve got a small guard or two in our program, but really understanding that versatility was much more key than having a 7-footer. I enjoyed Kofi. I’ve hated playing against Zach Edey, but we’ve also got to figure out ways to have continued success in the postseason as well.”This season the Illini start five players all 6-foot-6 or taller. Underwood likes to say they start five power forwards, because they’ve all played that position at one time in their career.After one weekend, it looks like Underwood might have much more than a second-weekend team. The Illini head to the East Regional in Boston as hot as anyone in this tournament, following up a Big Ten tournament title with two convincing wins in Omaha. They head to Boston with the best offense in the country, rising to No. 1 in adjusted efficiency at KenPom.com.And they got there with a little help from a new friend.Continue reading.

United-states , Illinois , Boston , Massachusetts , Michigan , American , Brad-underwood , Kofi-cockburn , Ayo-dosunmu , Zach-edey , Big-ten

Brad Underwood

Brad Underwood
jimrome.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jimrome.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.

Illinois , United-states , Iowa , Terrence-shannon-jr , Ayo-dosunmu , Kofi-cockburn , Illinois-head , Terrence-shannon , Marcus-domask , Jay-wright , Playing-iowa-state

NCAA Tournament: Illinois routs Duquesne, advances to Sweet 16

NCAA Tournament: Illinois routs Duquesne, advances to Sweet 16
chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.

Boston , Massachusetts , United-states , Washington , Cincinnati , Ohio , Michigan , Illinois , Iowa , Stephen-bardo , Ayo-dosunmu , Deron-william-illini

Illinois finally found the formula for getting past NCAA Tournament's first weekend

Brad Underwood changed his roster-building technique with his eyes on March, not the Big Ten. It worked with the first Sweet 16 since 2005.

Duquesne , Missouri , United-states , Michigan , Tennessee , Kansas , Illinois , Boston , Massachusetts , American , Brad-underwood-coachunderwood , Tyler-underwood

How Illinois finally got back to the Sweet 16

OMAHA, Neb. — Brad Underwood took his time leaving the floor on Saturday night. He clapped his hands above his head as he walked toward the Illinois cheering section, then stopped and punched at the air twice in celebration.Underwood would say later that it was for the fans, who hadn’t experienced getting out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2005. His team cruised there with a dominant 89-63 second-round win over Duquesne, getting that damn monkey off the program’s back. But, if he were being honest, this had weighed on him too. He’d been to seven NCAA Tournaments as a head coach and never made it past the Round of 32, including a frustrating second-round loss as a No. 1 seed three years ago to Loyola Chicago.This wasn’t just an Illinois problem; it’s a Big Ten problem.The league hasn’t produced a national champion since Michigan State in 2000. Most teams build to win in their league, and that has been the Big Ten’s issue. You win in March with guards. You win in the Big Ten with bigs.And that 2021 team? Very Big Ten-ish, built around 7-foot behemoth Kofi Cockburn.“When we lost as a (No, 1), we had holes,” Underwood said. “And we were really good. Ayo (Dosunmu) was obviously a pro. Kofi was an All-American. But we had no positional size. We got away with it, because of Kofi. And yet, we were very, very limited in what we could do offensively and defensively.”Underwood made a decision then. He was no longer going to build with the Big Ten in mind; he was building for March.He had one more season with Cockburn, surrounding him with little guards who could shoot. But once the big fella was gone, it was time to lean into where he saw the game was going.“We started recruiting bigger wings,” he said. “We’ve got a small guard or two in our program, but really understanding that versatility was much more key than having a 7-footer. I enjoyed Kofi. I’ve hated playing against Zach Edey, but we’ve also got to figure out ways to have continued success in the postseason as well.”This season the Illini start five players all 6-foot-6 or taller. Underwood likes to say they start five power forwards, because they’ve all played that position at one time in their career.After one weekend, it looks like Underwood might have much more than a second-weekend team. The Illini head to the East Regional in Boston as hot as anyone in this tournament, following up a Big Ten tournament title with two convincing wins in Omaha. They head to Boston with the best offense in the country, rising to No. 1 in adjusted efficiency at KenPom.com.And they got there with a little help from a new friend.Continue reading.

Illinois , United-states , Michigan , Boston , Massachusetts , American , Brad-underwood , Zach-edey , Ayo-dosunmu , Kofi-cockburn , Big-ten

Shannon, Domask among four Illini with Big-Ten honors

Not bad for a few old guys.

Texas , United-states , Chicago , Illinois , Nebraska , Sacramento , California , Champaign , Michigan , Indiana , Ohio , Ayo-dosonmu

Big 10 | How do you feel about this team's chances of making a deep March run vs. the way you felt about Kofi-Ayo, 2004-05, Self's best squads?

This week's panelists: former Illini Rob Judson, Deon Thomas, Bill Small, Bruce Douglas, Damir Krupalija, T.J. Wheeler, Nate Mast, Nnanna Egwu, Mike LaTulip and Neil Bresnahan.

Champaign , Illinois , United-states , Arizona , Sarajevo , Federation-of-bosnia-and-herzegovina , Bosnia-herzegovina , Kansas , Damonte-williams , Rob-judson , Giorgi-bezhanishvili , Ayo-kofi

Hoops Preview: Illinois 2023-24, Part One

Note: Wear White. Or don't. I have my doubts that this is going to work. THE ESSENTIALS WHAT #72 Michigan (7-10, 2-4 B10) vs #12 Illinois (12-4, 3-2 B10) WHERE Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI WHEN 8:30 PM THE LINE Kenpom: ILL-5 Torvik: ILL-4 TELEVISION FS1 (streaming link) THE OVERVIEW Michigan Basketball won a game, and football promptly lost JJ McCarthy to the NFL and Amorion Walker to Ole Miss (do not check those timelines). Such is the vibe around the hoops program, and has been so ever since Michigan's academic tweeds nixed Terrence Shannon's transfer. Illinois had no such compunctions about the hit to their academic reputation, but had as much trouble filling the other four starting roles with Players as Michigan did of finding someone to fill Shannon's shoes. The ridiculous but true narrative of last season for both squads was how unfortunate it was that they couldn't just combine forces. The other narrative is Juwan Howard hasn't beaten Brad Underwood in six tries. Yes, of course they've come close; haven't you been watching? Shannon returned to Champaign this year, and was off to a Kenpom PoY-type season until a rape allegation from a trip to Lawrence, KS, upended his season. Illinois has suspended him indefinitely while the case plays out, which is likely to take until the summer. Shannon vociferously denies the allegations, and sued his university over their decision to sit him. Given the publicly available information, only a complete partisan or a complete fool would opine on the case. The only fact is Illinois has to play without one of the best players in college basketball, and 2023-'24 Michigan has another opportunity—after squandering the same at Oregon, versus Florida, and when hosting McNeese State, to get a major on-paper resume win on the cheap. The Shannon-less and still PG-less Illini have been better than you'd expect. They routed Northwestern at home, were competitive at Purdue, beat a surging Michigan State. Last weekend they lost to Maryland at home, with slashing PG Jahmir Young and C Julian Reese accounting for 65 of their 76 points. Michigan's victory over Ohio State seemed less repeatable. In the presence of the reunited Fab Five, the Wolverines hit 12/23 of their threes (Terrence Williams was 5/5), while the Buckeyes went 3/25. Unless you believe in the hoops-football juju, it was an oasis of good feels amidst a miserable season. On a non-holiday Thursday 8:30 game versus a non-rival and at most two Fabs in the building, Crisler's probably not going to be as alive. Which is unfortunate, because we've got some dudes worth rooting for on that court, and the darkest part of winter ahead. [Hit THE JUMP for a PG who’s a center, wings who are PGs, and guys who are not Terrence Shannon.]

Ohio , United-states , Maryland , Michigan , Ann-arbor , Champaign , Illinois , Oregon , Florida , C-julian-reese , Jaelin-llewellyn , Terrence-shannon

The Verdict: Braggin' Rights Autopsy - Rock M Nation

Mizzou came to St. Louis looking for a performance to rejuvenate their campaign. They left with a landslide defeat.

Kansas , United-states , Illinois , Tennessee , Minnesota , Seton-hall , American , Randy-sartin , Terrence-shannon , Noah-carter , Brad-underwood , Tamar-bates

Illinois hasn't fared well in Braggin' Rights in the Underwood era

Braggin’ Rights has brought some memories... but also some frustration.

Missouri , United-states , Kobe , Hyogo , Japan , Champaign , Illinois , Javon-pickett , Ayo-dosunmu , Andre-curbelo , Dru-smith , Alan-griffin